President's Report to the Board: January, 2010

Board of Governors REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT January 28, 2010

To: The Board of Governors

From: AmitChakma

Date: January 28, 2010

Subject: President's Report to the Board: January, 2010

I would like to update you on the following activities which have occurred since the November 26,2009 Board meeting.

1. Council ofOntario Universities Advocacy

The Ontario government has a crucial role in Western's finances: nearly half the University's budget comes from the Province. It also controls another major revenue source through regulation of tuition fees. In addition, we receive funds for capital and research projects from the Province. Under the government's plan for postsecondary education, Reaching Higher, Western received nearly $50 million in ongoing funding. That plan ends in 2010-11 and, with the Province facing a large budget deficit, how the government chooses to deal with its budgetary pressures is of the upmost importance to postsecondary education. Apart from working with COU, I have also been working very closely with the Presidents of like-minded institutions including the University of Toronto, Queen's University and the University of Waterloo to ensure our voices are heard. I have spent quite a bit of time on this file and will continue to do so over the next few months.

2. Federal Budget Consultation

I participated in a Federal Budget consultative session with Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty in Windsor. The meeting afforded me the opportunity to emphasize the need for significant front-loaded investment in postsecondary education and innovation, which, in turn, will place Canada in a more competitive position as the world emerges out of this recessionary period.

1 3. 2010-2011 Budget

Western's 2010-2011 budget marks the last year of our current 4-year budget cycle and the leadership team has been meeting with Faculty and departments across campus. The Provost will soon circulate a budget proposal in the customary manner. I have been participating in many of these meetings with a keen interest in learning Western's budget process but, more importantly, in getting a good sense of the fiscal challenges from the perspective of our Faculties and operating units. These meetings have convinced me more than ever that our focus must be on new revenue generation to achieve our academic ambitions.

4. Early Retirement Plan

In addition to the budgetary pressures from no inflationary adjustment to our Provincial grants, the elimination of mandatory retirement has resulted in a growing number of colleagues working past age 65. This has caused structural deficits in a number of our Faculties. We are responding by instituting a new early retirement incentive program that we believe will provide a partial solution to the challenge of structural deficits.

5. President and Vice-Presidents annual retreat

This was my first retreat with this group and I found it very productive. In addition to dealing with matters related to 2010-11 budget, we spent time exploring revenue generation opportunities for the next budget cycle.

6. Senior Leadership Team

VP External One of my priorities for this year is to build a dynamic leadership team and I am pleased that Kevin Goldthorp has accepted the position of Vice-President (External). Kevin is a talented and experienced leader who is also familiar with Western and its culture. His experience in both the university and hospital sectors, as well as his knowledge of the philanthropic community, will be a great asset to Western. His experience in branding, marketing and communications will be very valuable in raising Western's profile. With Kevin in place, we can now focus on bringing much needed momentum to our Campaign.

VP Academic and Provost The search for the Provost and Vice-President Academic position is progressing well. The committee has retained Janet Wright and Associates as the consultant, issued an advertisement and is now engaged in a consultative process. I remain hopeful the process can be brought to a conclusion early in the spring.

2 7. Summer Study Program in Tours, France

A key component of our internationalization strategy is to expand the opportunities for our students to study abroad. To this end we have launched a summer study program in Tours with help from former President Paul Davenport. Students will receive credits for the courses taken at Tours. We intend to expand this program in Tours as well as in other parts of Europe.

8. Canada-US Institute I place a great deal of importance in creating interdisciplinary research clusters by tapping into the broad disciplinary expertise available at Western. When done properly, such an approach can differentiate Western in terms of the impact of its scholarship on broader societal issues. I am pleased to report that we have launched the Canada-US Institute, the first Canadian think-tank dedicated solely to the study of the relationship between our two countries. Western already has broad and deep expertise in a number of aspects of the Canada-U.S. relationship and this new institute will allow us to harness, advance, showcase and share this knowledge internationally.

The Institute encompasses three existing Western research centres and five Faculties:

• The Centre for American Studies (Faculty of Social Science) • The Canada-U.S. Law Institute (Faculty of Law) • The Lawrence National Centre for Policy and Management (Richard Ivey School of Business) • The Faculties of Arts and Humanities, and Information and Media Studies

While we'll formally launch the institute in Washington DC in April 2010, the first research under its auspices is already underway. Researchers Laura Stephenson and Cameron Anderson have begun a study focusing on the perceptions and attitudes ofCanadians toward the U.S., and American attitudes toward Canada, the results ofwhich will be released in April.

9. Endowed and Research Chairs

For the size and stature of Western, we have a limited number of endowed chairs and externally funded research chairs. It is a priority for Western to increase the number of endowed and non-endowed chairs as part of our Campaign. To this end I am very pleased to report on the following chairs:

INO Endowed Chair: INO has contributed $2.5 million for the establishment ofan endowed chair in Finance at the Richard Ivey School of Business.

3 Hydro One Research Chair: Hydro One has contributed $2.5 million in support of Power Systems Engineering. This contribution will allow the establishment of a Chair in Power Systems Engineering, which will support research into power systems and provide student awards and scholarships.

10. London Transit Strike

Western can be proud of the way in which our campus community came together to minimize the impact that the 28-day London Transit strike had on the ability of our students to meet their academic requirements. Many people on campus volunteered their time to drive students to and from campus. I am very grateful to all of them, but I want to particularly acknowledge the leadership provided by Gitta Kulczycki, Elgin Austen, Susan Grindrod, Jane O'Brien and our student leaders.

11. Health in All Policies Advisory Committee

The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care has invited me to participate on a time-limited advisory committee to assist in the development of a new strategy known as Health in All Policies or HiAP.

12. Raising Western's Profile

One of my priorities is to raise the profile of Western locally and internationally. The following are three such examples:

a. PM Visit to Hong Kong: Ivey Hong Kong Associate Dean Kathleen Slaughter introduced Prime Minster Stephen Harper at a Chamber of Commerce dinner during the PM's Hong Kong visit. The PM acknowledged the Ivey School's significance in Hong Kong (article attached).

b. London Free Press Opinion: Larry Cornies has written an opmlon piece encouraging the London community to embrace Western's global vision (article attached).

c. Advocacy Advertisement: I have joined a number of individuals, led by prominent Western alumnus Don Johnson, in an advocacy advertisement calling for the Federal government to eliminate the tax on capital gains when private equity and/or real estate are donated to registered charities.

4 OFF CAMPUS (November 18~ 2009 - JanuarY 223 2010) November 18 London Vic Cote (General Manager, Finance, City of London) Report on Partnership Initiatives 19 London Partners in Research Dinner (Gibbons) 20 Toronto VP External Selection Committee 20 Dinner with David Naylor, David Johnston 23 Toronto Dr. Peter Godsoe (Former Chairman, Scotiabank), Kelly Cole, Grant Stirling 23 Lunch with Ian Pulver (NHL Player Agent), Grant Stirling 23 Donald Schroeder (President and CEO, Tim Hortons), Ian Holloway, Grant Stirling 25 London National Scholarship Reception (Gibbons) 29 London Dinner with Marv & Peggy DeVries (Gibbons) 30 London Minister Goodyear Gateway London Announcement December 2 London Lunch with Ian Dentzer, Michael Lerner (Lerners), Ian Holloway 3 London Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry Annual Planning Meeting Keynote Address 4 London 4 London Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry Annual Planning Meeting 4 London Ontario Research Fund Echo Announcement (Museum ofArcheology) 4 London Royal Society and CRC Reception (Gibbons) 5 London 9 London Deans' Holiday Dinner 10 Toronto COU Executive Heads Round Table 11 London Chemical Engineering Department Annual Retreat/Holiday Lunch 12 London Community Open House (Gibbons) 13 Stratford Brunch with Minister Chris Bentley, Jeff Fielding, Vic Cote (City of London), Dan Mathieson (Mayor of Stratford), David Johnston (President, Waterloo) 13 London Dinner with Schulich Dean Candidate (Gibbons) 14 London LEDC Board Meeting 15 Toronto Mr. John Thompson (Chancellor) HFO Board of Directors Level5 Agency 16 Toronto Mr. Aubrey Baillie, Carol Stephenson Lunch with Pierre Morrissette (President, CEO and Founder, Pelmorex Media Inc), Carol Stephenson Bill Morneau (Chairman and CEO Morneau Sobeco), Grant Stirling 17 London Dinner with Schulich Dean Candidate (Gibbons) January 6 Toronto Mr. Craig Smith (President & Broker, Ashlar Urban Realty Inc), Grant Stirling Mr. Jameson Steeve (Principal Secretary to the Premier) 6 Lunch with Katherine and Richard Morrison, Grant Stirling 7 London PVP Retreat 8 London PVP Retreat 10 London Minister Chris Bentley 2010 January Levee London Minister Deb Matthew's New Year's Community Drop In Event 15 Montreal CERC Review Panel (with Mike Lehman, Mel Goodale, Ted Hewitt) 18 London Grant Stirling Reception 20 Windsor Pre-Budget Consultation with Jim Flaherty (Minister ofFinance) 20 Windsor Alan Wildeman (President, University ofWindsor) 21 London Rogers TV Interview with Phil McLeod 23 London Paul Davenport ON CAMPUS

Above: Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Kathleen Slaughter, Ivey Associate Dean - Asia.

During his address to the Canadian Chamber in Hong Kong last Saturday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper noted the significance ofIvey's Hong Kong campus and Executive EMBA Program, which celebrated its 10th anniversary last year. Ivey Associate Dean, Asia, Kathleen Slaughter, as President ofthe Canadian Chamber, introduced Prime Minster Harper and talked about the opportunity that Canada has to participate more significantly in the global shift towards Asia. Lets embrace UWO chiefs global vision The London Free Press 19-Dec-09 BY LARRY CORNIES

Nearly lost last week in the tinsel of a newsier-than-normal December was a brief statement from the president's office at the University of Western Ontario. It was easy to miss, given the glittery stories of fallen sports heroes, a local transit strike, stumbling climate-change talks and the treatment ofAfghan detainees.

But the compact memo from Amit Chakma to his board of governors provides a first glimpse of the new UWO president's priorities, slightly less than a half year into his tenure. And given the importance of the university to London's economy and future, it should be of more than passing interest beyond Western's stone gates.

When I first met him in spring, I was struck by Chakma's directness and candour. He is quiet and unassuming, but probing and penetratingly insightful. His memo reflects that: It takes barely three pages to layout a 22-point framework on which he plans to build his legacy to Western and the community.

Among those points are goals that are predictable: to strengthen the academic community, to strengthen relationships with affiliated colleges, to build a dynamic leadership team and so on. There are commitments to keep capital projects on time and on budget, build more robust relationships with government and connect more effectively with student leaders.

But the remaining points are the ones that really matter to the larger community.

Western's new president has, through his studies, teaching and work on five continents, become persuaded of the utter importance of two imperatives: collaboration and internationalization.

On the first, academics and researchers have long understood the principle that two or more heads working to solve a problem are better than one. Few scientific breakthroughs or other innovations derive from the work of a single researcher working solo in a lab. Chakma underlines the importance ofcollaboration, on campus and off. "While our university will be increasingly focused on expanding our influence nationally and internationally ... there is much the City (of London), Middlesex County, the region of Southwestern

Ontario and the university can achieve for our mutual benefit, II he writes. Among his goals are more collaborative projects with the city, such as the recently announced Wastewater Treatment Technology Centre, a joint research project ofUWO, the city and Trojan Technologies. Chakma is aiming for many more.

He is also hoping to permanently dispatch any lingering stereotype ofWestern as a school dominated by white-bread Canadian sensibilities. In fact, his vision for making UWO one of the best universities in the world is to turn that perception on its head, making the campus a truly international place.

He wants many more Western students, undergrad and graduate, to have the life-changing, eye-opening experience of studying abroad. He wants more foreign students and researchers in classrooms and labs at UWO. He aims to manufacture a world-class institution by patiently stitching the world into Western's very fabric.

How might the larger community pick up on Chakma's vision? His goals and belief in collaboration between town and gown open interesting possibilities for industry, business, service and public sectors.

Could London undertake an exchange program among senior staffat municipalities in other parts of the globe? Could our chamber of commerce develop a six-month staffexchange with boards of trade in regional centres on other continents? Could manufacturers, businesses, fmancial services companies and charities do the same? Could local media outlets develop exchanges with journalists on other continents for six-month or one-year periods?

Could Chakma's vision ofan internationalized community spill out far beyond the confines ofcampus? Ifit did, what would that do for the region's economy and its ability to attract leading-edge talent from around the globe in a variety ofsectors?

Yes, we should be participating with UWO in bricks-and-mortar projects and research-oriented partnerships. But perhaps the greatest collaboration between the region and its university lies in whether the rest of us can grasp Chakma's vision for an internationalized community and adopt it as our own.